WEB DESK
At least 25 people, including 7 Journalists were killed and 49 others injured in two bomb blasts in Kabul today. Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the first attack occurred near the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence services. He said the blast was detonated by an assailant on a motorcycle and left at least four dead and five injured.
The second explosion took place in the same area minutes after the first were journalists who had gathered to cover the first blast, killing and wounding a number of photographers and cameraman.Police spokesman Kabul Hashmat Stanikzai said the bomber disguised himself as a journalist and detonated himself among the crowd.
Health Ministry spokesman, Wahid Majroh said the death toll could rise as some of the injured are in critical condition. The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee said seven journalists had been killed. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hundreds of people have been killed and wounded in a series of high-profile attacks in Kabul since the beginning of the year, despite President Ashraf Ghani’s offer in February for peace talks “without preconditions”.
Two journalists, an AFP photographer and a cameraman for a Kabul-based private TV channel, were among the fatalities, a Kabul police spokesman said.
Hashmat Stanikzai told Pajhwok Afghan News that the first suicide bomber on a motorbike struck near National Directorate of Security (NDS) office in the Shashdarak area of the capital.
Posing as a reporter, the second assailant joined journalists who rushed to the scene of the first suicide attack. The attacker then detonated his explosives among the reporters, the police spokesman said.
Dr. Wahid Majrooh, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), earlier put the death toll at 21 dead and 40 injured. The casualties were evacuated to Kabul hospitals.
He said a number of injured were in critical condition. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but government officials often blame Taliban and Daesh fighters for such attacks.
A security official, who did not want to be named, said a dozen of people were killed in the second suicide bombing. At least two journalists were confirmed dead.
The NATO headquarters and several embassies are located in Shashdarak locality, which was sealed off. A number of the injured are said to be in critical condition.